Multi-purpose, multi-tenant kiosk

ABSTRACT

In certain embodiments, a kiosk deployed at a customer location communicates a plurality of financial products available for provisioning by the kiosk and, for each financial product, one or more vendors that offers the financial product. The kiosk provisions a selected one of the financial products in response to input from a user. The input indicates the selected financial product and a selected one of the vendors.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to kiosks, and more particularly to amulti-purpose, multi-tenant kiosk.

BACKGROUND

A customer of a bank may use a credit card or a debit card to accessfunds in the customer's account. If the credit card becomes lost orstolen, then the customer may request a new credit card from the bank.The bank deactivates the old credit card, assigns a new credit cardnumber to the account, and prints a new credit card for the customer.The bank then sends the new credit card to the customer's mailingaddress. After receiving the credit card in the mail, the customeractivates the card by calling a bank representative, using the bank'swebsite, or swiping the card through an automatic teller machine (ATM)and entering a personal identification number (PIN).

SUMMARY

In certain embodiments, a kiosk deployed at a customer locationdetermines a subset of financial products to communicate to a user. Thesubset of financial products is determined from a plurality of financialproducts available for provisioning by the kiosk. The kiosk communicatesthe subset of financial products and receives a first user inputindicating a selected financial product of the subset. The kioskdetermines a subset of vendors to communicate to the user. The subset ofvendors is determined from a plurality of vendors that offer theplurality of financial products available for provisioning by the kiosk.The kiosk communicates the subset of vendors and receives a second userinput indicating a selected vendor of the subset. The kiosk provisionsthe selected financial product on behalf of the selected vendor based onthe first user input and the second user input.

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may provide one or moretechnical advantages. A technical advantage of one embodiment of amulti-purpose/multi-tenant kiosk provides a one-stop shop forprovisioning financial products. A multi-purpose kiosk may offer avariety of financial products, such as a credit account, a debitaccount, a prepaid account, and/or an affinity account. The financialproducts can be offered in a variety of formats (e.g., magnetic stripe,radio frequency identifier, mobile token). A multi-tenant kiosk mayoffer financial products from a variety of vendors, such as multiplefinancial institutions and/or multiple retailers. An advantage of amulti-purpose/multi-tenant kiosk may be the creation of scale to managethe economics of deploying kiosks. For example, as the number ofpurposes and vendors increases, the volume of transactions that usersconduct via the kiosk may tend to increase thereby creating economies ofscale. In some embodiments, a technical advantage may provide customersa convenient means for replacing a lost or stolen card. For example,kiosks can be placed in locations where customers are likely to need toreplace lost or stolen cards, such as a banking center, a travel venue,a retail venue, or an entertainment venue. In some embodiments, thekiosk can be used by existing customers (e.g., to link to an existingbank account to print a replacement for a lost or stolen card) orprospective customers (e.g., to open a new account and print a card inreal time).

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include some, all, ornone of the above advantages. One or more other technical advantages maybe readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the figures,descriptions, and claims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To provide a more complete understanding of the present invention andthe features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system comprising a kiosk;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flowchart for a multi-purpose,multi-tenant kiosk;

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate example display screens for a multi-purpose,multi-tenant kiosk;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a mobile kiosk; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a method performed by a mobile kiosk.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Glossary:

Application represents any suitable software or logic that allows a userto access information, provides information to a user, and/orfacilitates interactions between components within a system or betweenusers in a system.

Authentication means the process of verifying the identity of a user.

Consumer represents a person that uses financial products or financialservices, or, in reference to a commercial transaction, a consumer isthe person or entity purchasing a good or service.

Financial Institution represents an individual, business, company, ororganization that engages in financial activities and/or providesfinancial products and/or services, which may include, but are notlimited to, banking and investment activities, such as maintainingaccounts (e.g., transaction accounts, savings accounts, credit accounts,investment accounts, insurance accounts, portfolios, etc.), receivingdeposits, crediting accounts, debiting accounts, extending credit toaccount holders, purchasing securities, providing insurance, and/orsupervising a customer's portfolio.

Financial Product represents a savings account, a checking account, acredit card account, a loan account, a line of credit account, a debitaccount, a rewards account associated with a merchant, or any otherfinancial product associated with a consumer.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) represents any suitable component thatdisplays information to a user. A GUI is generally operable to tailorand filter data entered by and presented to the user. The GUI mayprovide the user with an efficient and user-friendly presentation ofinformation using a plurality of displays having interactive fields,pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user. The GUI may includemultiple levels of abstraction including groupings and boundaries. Itshould be understood that the term GUI may be used in the singular or inthe plural to describe one or more GUIs in each of the displays of aparticular GUI.

Logic represents rules, algorithms, code, tables, and/or other suitableinstructions embodied in a computer-readable storage medium forperforming the described functions and operations of a component.

Memory represents a component of a kiosk operable to store data andinformation for use in provisioning a financial product. Memory maystore financial products available for provisioning by the kiosk. Thememory may store, either permanently or temporarily, data, operationalsoftware, or other information for the processor. The memory may includeany one or a combination of volatile or non-volatile local or remotedevices suitable for storing information. For example, the memory mayinclude random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), magneticstorage devices, optical storage devices, or any other suitableinformation storage device or a combination of these devices.

Message represents any electronic transmission that carries data, suchas a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) message, a short messageservice (SMS) message, a network packet, a computer file, an email, anHTML request, an XML request, or a combination of these or othersuitable transmissions.

Network represents any suitable network operable to facilitatecommunication between the components of the system. The network maycomprise a single network or multiple networks and may include anyinterconnecting system capable of transmitting audio, video, signals,data, messages, or any combination of the preceding. The network mayinclude all or a portion of a public switched telephone network (PSTN),a public or private data network, a local area network (LAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local,regional, or global communication or computer network, such as theInternet, a wireline or wireless network, an enterprise intranet, or anyother suitable communication link, including combinations thereof,operable to facilitate communication between the components. The networkmay additionally include any combination of gateways, routers, hubs,switches, access points, base stations, wireless telephone systems andany other hardware, software or a combination thereof.

Network Interface represents any suitable device operable to receiveinformation from the network, transmit information through the network,perform processing of information, communicate with other devices, orany combination of the preceding. The network interface represents anyport or connection, real or virtual, including any suitable hardwareand/or software, including protocol conversion and data processingcapabilities, to communicate through a Local Area Network, Wide AreaNetwork, or other communication system that allows the components withinthe system to exchange information.

Processor represents any hardware and/or software that operates tocontrol and process information. A processor may be a programmable logicdevice, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, any suitable processingdevice, or any suitable combination of the preceding.

Vendor represents an individual, business, company, or otherorganization. An example of a vendor may include a FinancialInstitution.

Embodiments of the present invention and its advantages are bestunderstood by referring to FIGS. 1 through 4 of the drawings, likenumerals being used for like and corresponding parts of the variousdrawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system 5 comprising a kiosk 12,network 22, and server 24. In some embodiments, kiosk 12 is amulti-purpose/multi-tenant kiosk. Kiosk 12 offers financial products tousers on behalf of a number of vendors. Users interact with kiosk 12 toprovision the financial products for a variety of purposes, such as toprint a replacement credit card or debit card (e.g., to replace a lostor stolen card associated with an existing account), to open a newaccount and print a card for the new account in real time (e.g., print anew credit card, debit card, or affinity card), and/or other suitablepurpose.

Kiosk 12 refers to a machine deployed at a customer location 10.Examples of customer locations include travel venues (e.g., airports,subway stations, train stations, bus stations, etc.), retail venues(e.g., grocery stores, clothing stores, electronics stores, sportinggoods stores, superstores, etc.), entertainment venues (e.g., sportingarenas or other sporting venues, concerts, theaters, restaurants, etc.),and banking centers. Customer location 10 can include an indoor area(such as the lobby inside a store) and/or an outdoor area (such as aparking lot adjacent to the store or other venue). Kiosk 12 may bedeployed at customer location 10 on a fixed basis or on a temporary (orperiodic) basis. FIG. 4 below describes an example of a kiosk 12situated on/in a vehicle that travels to a particular customer locationon a temporary and/or periodic basis.

Kiosk 12 includes one or more user interfaces 14, processors 16,memories 18, and network interfaces 20. A user interacts with kiosk 12via the user interface(s) 14. An interface receives input, sends output,processes the input and/or output and/or performs other suitableoperations. An interface may comprise hardware and/or software. Examplesof user interfaces 14 include one or more graphical user interfaces(GUIs) 14 a, buttons 14 b, printers 14 c, and/or any other suitable userinterfaces, such as a microphone, speakers, credit card reader, checkreader, user device interface (e.g., a wireless or wired connectionwhere the user connects his or her mobile phone or other user device tokiosk 12), and so on. Kiosk 12 displays GUI 14 a on a display screen.GUI 14 a allows a user to access applications of kiosk 12. GUI 14 a isgenerally operable to tailor and filter data entered by and presented tothe user. GUI 14 a may provide the user with an efficient anduser-friendly presentation of information using a plurality of displayshaving interactive fields, pull-down lists, and buttons operated by theuser. GUI 14 a may include multiple levels of abstraction includinggroupings and boundaries. It should be understood that the term GUI 14 amay be used in the singular or in the plural to describe one or moreGUIs 14 a in each of the displays of a particular GUI 14 a. The one ormore buttons 14 b of kiosk 12 may be arranged in a keyboard, a keypad, atouchscreen (e.g., as part of GUI 14 a), or other suitableconfiguration. Printer 14 c may be configured to provide any suitablephysical output to the user. For example, printer 14 c may print a paperreceipt describing the user's interaction with kiosk 12. As anotherexample, printer 14 c may print a card, such as a plastic credit card,debit card, or affinity card provisioned by kiosk 12.

Processor 16 communicatively couples to user interface 14, memory 18,and network interface 20, and controls the operation and administrationof authentication kiosk 12 by processing information received from userinterface 14, memory 18, and network interface 20. Processor 16 includesany hardware and/or software that operates to control and processinformation. For example, processor 16 executes logic to control theoperations of kiosk 12. Processor 16 may be a programmable logic device,a microcontroller, a microprocessor, any suitable processing device, orany suitable combination of the preceding.

Memory 18 stores, either permanently or temporarily, data, operationalsoftware, or other information for processor 16. Memory 18 includes anyone or a combination of volatile or non-volatile local or remote devicessuitable for storing information. For example, memory 28 may includeRead Only Memory (“ROM”), Random Access Memory (“RAM”), magnetic storagedevices, optical storage devices, or any other suitable informationstorage device or a combination of these devices.

Memory 18 may include any suitable logic for use in the operation ofkiosk 12. Logic generally refers to rules, algorithms, code, tables,and/or other suitable instructions embodied in a non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium for performing the described functionsand operations. For example, logic facilitates communicating financialproducts that various vendors offer via kiosk 12, receiving user inputindicating a selection of one of the financial products and one of thevendors to provide the financial product, and provisioning the financialproduct.

Network interface 20 represents any suitable component operable toreceive information from network 22, transmit information throughnetwork 22, perform processing of information, communicate with otherdevices, or any combination of the preceding. Network interface 22represents any port or connection, real or virtual, including anysuitable hardware and/or software, including protocol conversion anddata processing capabilities, to communicate through a LAN, WAN, orother communication system that allows processor 16 to exchangeinformation with network 22, server 24, and/or other devices of system5.

Network 22 represents any suitable network operable to facilitatecommunication between the components of system 5, such as kiosk 12 andserver 24. Network 22 may include any interconnecting system capable oftransmitting audio, video, signals, data, messages, or any combinationof the preceding. Network 22 may include all or a portion of a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular network, a base station, agateway, a public or private data network, a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, a WWAN,a local, regional, or global communication or computer network, such asthe Internet, a wireline or wireless network, an enterprise intranet, orany other suitable communication link, including combinations thereof,operable to facilitate communication between the components.

In some embodiments, kiosk 12 communicates with server 24 to provisionthe selected financial product. Server 24 may be associated with thevendor of the selected financial product. For example, if the userinteracts with kiosk 12 to select Bank A as the vendor of a new creditcard account, kiosk 12 may communicate with server 24 associated withBank A to obtain approval for the new credit card account. In someembodiments, server 24 determines whether additional information isrequired to provision the new credit card account, determines whatadditional information to receive from the user, communicates theadditional information to the user via kiosk 12, and completes approvalof the user to allow the user to open the account. Server 24 may includea network server, any suitable remote server, a mainframe, a hostcomputer, a workstation, a web server, a personal computer, a fileserver, or any other suitable device operable to communicate with kiosk12. In some embodiments, server 24 may execute any suitable operatingsystem such as IBM's zSeries/Operating System (z/OS), MS-DOS, PC-DOS,MAC-OS, WINDOWS, UNIX, OpenVMS, Android™, or any other appropriateoperating system, including future operating systems. The functions ofserver 24 may be performed by any suitable combination of one or moreservers or other components at one or more locations. Server 24 mayinclude any suitable component, such as one or more network interfaces,processors, and memories.

In an exemplary embodiment of operation, processor 16 of kiosk 12determines that a user has requested to provision a financial product.For example, processor 16 may optionally receive a signal from userinterface 14 indicating that the user pressed a start button and/or thatthe user entered login credentials to use kiosk 12. In response,processor 16 retrieves a financial product provisioning application frommemory 18. The application may include logic and/or rules forprovisioning a financial product. In some embodiments, the financialproduct provisioning application includes information describingfinancial products that kiosk 12 can provision and vendors that offerthe financial products. Upon execution of the financial productprovisioning application, processor 16 communicates financial productand vendor offerings to the user, for example, via GUI 14 a. Processor16 then receives input from the user indicating the user's selectedfinancial product and vendor. As an example, the user may select to opena new credit card account with Bank A, to replace a lost debit cardassociated with an account that the user maintains with Bank B, or torenew a membership account with superstore C. Processor 16 thenprovisions the selected financial product on behalf of the selectedvendor.

For certain financial products and/or vendors, the financialprovisioning application may allow kiosk 12 to provision the financialproduct independently of any communication with the vendor. As anexample, kiosk 12 may include an interface where a user deposits cashand, in response, kiosk 12 prints out a prepaid card (e.g., a gift cardor other stored value card) having the corresponding cash value. Forother financial products and/or vendors, the financial provisioningapplication may include rules whereby processor 16 communicates with thevendor to approve the provisioning. As an example, the rules may requireprocessor 16 to communicate with a server 24 associated with Bank A inorder to obtain approval for opening a new credit card account with BankA. Additional examples of functionality that may be performed by thecomponents of kiosk 12 are described below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flowchart 200 for a method in kiosk 12deployed at a customer location, such as a travel venue (e.g., airport,subway station, train station, bus station, etc.), a retail venue (e.g.,grocery store, clothing store, electronics store, sporting goods store,superstore, etc.), entertainment venue (e.g., sporting arena or othersporting venue, concert, theater, restaurant, etc.), or a bankingcenter.

Kiosk 12 may be multi-purpose in that it offers a plurality of financialproducts having various purposes. Examples of financial products includecredit accounts, debit accounts, prepaid accounts (e.g., gift cards,stored value cards), and affinity accounts. An affinity account mayrefer a membership account and/or a rewards account with a particularvendor. For example, a user may purchase a membership account with aretail superstore in order to shop in the store. As another example, auser may enroll in a rewards account with an airline in order to obtainpoints, discounts, or other loyalty incentives from the airline. Kiosk12 may also serve other purposes, such as allowing bill pay. Forexample, a user may a phone bill, an electric bill, or other bill intokiosk 12 and may then deposit cash in order to pay the bill. In someembodiments, kiosk 12 may include ATM functionality, such as acceptingdeposits and withdrawals from a bank account.

Kiosk 12 may be multi-tenant in that it offers the financial products onbehalf of a variety of vendors. For example, one or more financialinstitutions, one or more retailers, and other suitable vendors may alloffer financial products via kiosk 12.

At step 204, kiosk 12 determines a subset of financial products tocommunicate to a user. The subset of financial products is determinedfrom the plurality of financial products available for provisioning bykiosk 12. The subset of financial products may include one, some, or allof the plurality of financial products that kiosk 12 is capable ofprovisioning. To determine the subset of financial products, kiosk 12may apply a pre-defined rule, such as a rule to always offer all thefinancial products or a rule to only offer financial products ofinterest to the user based on a user profile. In addition (or in thealternative), kiosk 12 may determine the subset of financial productsbased on a request from the user. As an example, the user may request tosee all of the financial products that kiosk 12 can provision. Or, theuser may request to see only the financial products that kiosk 12 canprovision on behalf of a particular vendor (which may be fewer than allof the financial products that kiosk 12 is capable of provisioning).

At step 208, kiosk 12 communicates the subset of financial products tothe user. In some embodiments, kiosk 12 communicates the financialproducts to the user via a display screen depicting GUI 14 a. Inresponse to seeing the available financial products, the user may submita first user input indicating a selected financial product. For example,the user may interact with user interface 14, such as a touchscreen, toselect the financial product. At step 212, kiosk 12 receives the firstuser input indicating the selected financial product.

At step 216, kiosk 12 determines a subset of vendors to communicate tothe user. The subset of vendors is determined from a plurality ofvendors that offer the financial products available for provisioning bykiosk 12. The subset of vendors may include one, some, or all of theplurality of vendors that offer financial products via kiosk 12. Todetermine the subset of vendors, kiosk 12 may apply a pre-defined rule,such as a rule to always offer all the vendors or a rule to only offervendors of interest to the user based on a user profile. In addition (orin the alternative), kiosk 12 may determine the subset of vendors basedon a request from the user. As an example, the user may request to seeall of the vendors that offer financial products via kiosk 12. Or, theuser may request to see only the vendors that offer particular financialproducts, such as affinity accounts, which may be fewer than all of thevendors that kiosk 12.

At step 220, kiosk 12 communicates the subset of vendors to the user. Insome embodiments, kiosk 12 communicates the vendors to the user via adisplay screen depicting GUI 14 a. In response to seeing the availablevendors, the user may submit a second user input indicating a selectedvendor. For example, the user may interact with user interface 14, suchas a touchscreen, to select the vendor. At step 224, kiosk 12 receivesthe second user input indicating the selected vendor.

At step 228, kiosk 12 provisions the selected financial product onbehalf of the selected vendor based on the first user input and thesecond user input. As discussed with respect to FIG. 1, in someembodiments kiosk 12 may provision the financial product itself and inother embodiments kiosk 12 may interact with the selected vendor toapprove and/or configure the financial product (e.g., by communicatingwith server 24 associated with the selected vendor via network 22).Provisioning the financial product may include issuing a plastic card(e.g., a card with a magnetic stripe or an embedded radio frequencyidentifier (RFID)), a token for a mobile device, or other suitable meansfor facilitating transactions using the selected financial product.Provisioning may also include opening a new account or updating anexisting account of the user. Examples of updates to an existing accountinclude renewing an expired membership account or adding funds to aprepaid account (such as an account associated with a gift card). Themethod then ends.

The steps of method 200 may be combined or separated and may beperformed in any suitable order. For example, in some embodiments, kiosk12 may communicate the subset of vendors to the user prior tocommunicating the subset of financial products to the user. As anotherexample, in some embodiments, kiosk 12 may communicate the vendors andfinancial products simultaneously (e.g., one option may be for “BankA—Credit Account,” another option could be for “Bank B—Credit Account,”and another option could be for “Store C—Prepaid Account”). As anotherexample, kiosk 12 may receive the first user input and second user inputin separate messages or in the same message (the user can submit theselected vendor and the selected financial product at the same time).

Kiosk 12 may include any suitable modules for performing the stepsdescribed with respect to FIG. 2. A module may include one or moreprocessors, memory, and/or interfaces. Examples of modules of particularembodiments of kiosk 12 include a financial products selection modulethat determines a subset of financial products from a plurality offinancial products available for provisioning by kiosk 12 andcommunicates the subset of financial products to a user via a userinterface (such as a display screen of kiosk 12), a vendor selectionmodule that determines a subset of vendors from a plurality of vendorsthat offer the plurality of financial products available forprovisioning by the kiosk and communicates the subset of vendors to theuser via a user interface (such as a display screen of kiosk 12), and aprovisioning module that receives the user's selection of financialproduct and vendor via a user input interface (such as a touchscreen ofkiosk 12) and provisions the selected financial product on behalf of theselected vendor, for example, by configuring an account and printing acard for the account via a user interface (such as a printer of kiosk12).

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate example display screens for a multi-purpose,multi-tenant kiosk 12. FIG. 3A illustrates a display screen of kiosk 12that presents a plurality of vendors 100 to the user, such as vendor100A corresponding to Bank A, vendor 100 b corresponding to Bank B,vendor 100C corresponding to Store C, and vendor 100D corresponding toStore D. FIG. 3B illustrates an example in which the user selected BankA as the vendor and the display screen of kiosk 12 presents the userwith a plurality of financial products 105A that Bank A offers via kiosk12. The financial products include a credit account 105A, a debitaccount 105B, and a prepaid account 105C.

As an example, suppose user selects the credit account 105A. Selectingcredit account 105A may allow the user to open a new credit account andobtain a credit card that kiosk 12 prints for the account in real-time.Selecting credit account 105A may allow the user to provision anexisting account that the user maintains with Bank A. As an example, ifthe user's credit card for the existing account has been lost, stolen,or expired, then kiosk 12 may provision the existing account bydeactivating the old credit card and activating and printing areplacement card.

In some embodiments, kiosk 12 communicate a plurality of format optionsfor provisioning the selected financial product, receive a selectedformat option from the user, and provisions the selected financialproduct according to the selected format option. For example, FIG. 3Cillustrates an example where to provision the credit account describedwith respect to FIG. 3B, the kiosk presents the user with the formatoptions of a radio frequency identifier (RFID) 110A, a magnetic stripecard 110B, and/or a mobile token 110C for accessing the account from theuser's mobile device. The user may select one or more of his or herpreferred format options. For example, the user may select to print acredit card with a magnetic stripe and to also provision a mobile tokento enable the user to interact with the user's mobile phone or otherdevice in order to perform financial transactions involving the creditaccount.

Different vendors 100 may offer different financial products 105. FIG.3D illustrates an example in which Store C offers different financialproducts than the credit account 105A, debit account 105B, and prepaidaccount 105C offered by Bank A (as discussed with respect to FIG. 3B).In the example, Store C offers a credit account 105D, a gift account105E, and an affinity account 105F. In one embodiment, Store C may be asuperstore or other store that requires membership to shop at Store C.Kiosk 12 may be deployed in an entrance or lobby area of Store C.Non-member users may use kiosk 12 to provision membership to Store C(e.g., by selecting affinity account 105F). The users may also use kiosk12 to obtain a Store C-branded credit cards (e.g., by selecting creditaccount 105D). The user may also use kiosk 12 to obtain a gift card105E. The gift card may be funded in any suitable manner, such as bydepositing cash into kiosk 12, swiping a credit card or check through areader on kiosk 12, or interacting with a user interface of kiosk 12 tolink to a bank account of the user (e.g., via network 22).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a mobile kiosk 40. In some embodiments,mobile kiosk 40 includes a kiosk portion 42 having a user interface 14,a processor 16, memory 18, and a network interface 20 (e.g., a wirelessinterface) similar to those described with respect to kiosk 12 ofFIG. 1. Kiosk portion 14 couples to a vehicle 44, such as a truck, sothat mobile kiosk 40 can be moved from one customer location 10 to thenext. Components of kiosk portion 42 may be coupled on and/or in vehicle44 in any suitable manner that allows a user to access user interface 14when vehicle 44 is parked.

At a given time, mobile kiosk 40 may optionally be configured asmulti-tenant and/or multi-purpose, or mobile kiosk 40 may be customizedfor one particular tenant and/or one particular purpose. Mobile kiosk 40may be reconfigurable. For example, mobile kiosk 40 may be configuredfor one purpose when located in a first customer location 10 a andreconfigured for another purpose when located in a second customerlocation 10 b.

In some embodiments, mobile kiosk 40 may provide features similar tothose provided by an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), such as dispensingcash and receiving cash or checks for deposit. In addition, mobile kiosk40 provides an enhanced set of banking features to users. As an example,mobile kiosk 40 deployed at Store A for a grand opening event may offerusers the ability to activate and print a membership card, a rewardcard, or a gift card to Store A. After the grand opening of Store A,mobile kiosk 40 could drive to another customer location. For example,mobile kiosk could drive to a sporting event and could be reconfiguredto offer users the ability to open a new credit account and to print acredit card with a logo of one of the teams participating in thesporting event.

Mobile kiosk 40 may provide one or more advantages. In some embodiments,mobile kiosk 40 customizes product offerings to users in a particularcustomer location. Customization may allow for deepening relationshipswith customers and creating unique sales opportunities forexperience-oriented, affinity-branded products, like sellingfootball-themed credit cards at a football stadium on game day. In someembodiments, mobile kiosk 40 may be likened to a banking center on atruck. Mobile kiosk 40 provides a robust set of features, like thoseprovided by a banking center, and also provides convenience andaccessibility by traveling to customer locations. Instead of the userhaving to make a trip to a banking center on the way to an event, theuser can go to the event and transact the user's banking from mobilekiosk 40 located at the event.

Mobile kiosk 40 travels to any suitable locations where people arelikely to be engaged in commercial services. As an example, mobile kiosk40 may travel to store openings where customers can get a new creditrelationship or purchase customized store specific gift cards. Mobilekiosk 40 may also travel to the store for seasonal promotions (e.g.,winter sale, semi-annual sale) where the store offers cash back, bonuspoints, discounts, or other incentives for joining an affinity programor opening a new credit account with the store. As another example,mobile kiosk 40 may periodically travel to a company sponsored on-sitebanking event for which the offerings of mobile kiosk 40 can be tailoredto employees of the company and the reason for the event (e.g., deposita check on payday, open a health savings account during a benefitenrollment period, enroll in a 401K plan during a retirement planningseminar, etc.). As yet another example, mobile kiosk 40 may travel to auniversity during university sponsored events, such as registration daysor during concerts or other on-campus entertainment programs.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a method for customizing financialproducts based on the current location of mobile kiosk 40. At step 504,mobile kiosk receives information for a first configuration of financialproducts. Mobile kiosk 40 may receive the configuration information inany suitable manner. In some embodiments, mobile kiosk 40 receives theconfiguration information from an administrator that programs theconfiguration information through user interface 14 or through messagingover network 22. The first configuration is customized according to afirst customer location, such as a travel venue, a retail venue, or anentertainment venue. As an example, the first customer location maycorrespond to Store A, and the financial products customized to Store Amay include a Store A-branded credit account, debit account, prepaidaccount (such as a gift card account), or affinity account (such asmembership or reward card account).

At step 508, the method applies the first configuration to mobile kiosk40. As a result, mobile kiosk 40 is configured to offer the financialproducts of the first configuration, such as the Store-A brandedproducts described in the previous step. In some embodiments, mobilekiosk 40 may apply the first configuration in real-time upon receipt ofthe first configuration information. Alternatively, mobile kiosk 40 maystore the first configuration information in memory 18 and apply thefirst configuration at a later time, such as when mobile kiosk 40 is ator en route to Store A. Mobile kiosk 40 may detect that it is at or enroute to Store A based on administrator input or by using locationtechnology, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS). In response todetecting proximity to Store A, mobile kiosk 40 applies the firstconfiguration.

At step 512, the method provisions a first set of the financial productswhile mobile kiosk 40 is configured according to the firstconfiguration. For example, mobile kiosk 40 located at Store Aprovisions the Store-A branded products while mobile kiosk 40 isconfigured according to the first configuration. In some embodiments,provisioning one of the financial products may include printing a cardhaving a magnetic stripe or a radio frequency identifier (RFID). Thus,in some embodiments, a user could print a Store-A branded credit card,debit card, gift card, membership card, reward card, or other similarcard in real-time using mobile kiosk 40 located at Store A.

In some embodiments, provisioning financial products may includedetermining an identity of a current user of mobile kiosk 40 andselecting certain financial products to offer the user based on thecustomer location and the identity of the current user. For example,mobile kiosk 40 located at Store A may request login information fromthe current user and may use the login information to access a userprofile of the current user. The login information could be a name,password, account number, or other information input by the user bytyping on a keyboard or touchscreen, by swiping the user's credit,debit, membership, or other card through a card reader, or by othersuitable means. The corresponding user profile could be stored in memory18 or received via network 22. If the user profile indicates thatCustomer A already has a membership to Store A, mobile kiosk 40 maydetermine that it is not necessary to offer Customer A membership toStore A. As another example, mobile kiosk 40 located at a basketballgame between Team A and Team B, may determine that the user is a fan ofTeam A based on the user's profile. Mobile kiosk 40 may then offer TeamA branded products instead of Team B branded products.

Continuing to step 516, the method receives information for a secondconfiguration of the financial products. Mobile kiosk 40 may receive theconfiguration information in any suitable manner. In some embodiments,mobile kiosk 40 receives the configuration information from anadministrator that programs the configuration information through userinterface 14 or through messaging over network 22. The secondconfiguration is customized according to a second customer location. Thesecond customer location differs from the first customer location. Forexample, the first location in the example may correspond to Store A andthe second location may correspond to a Company B that is hosting anon-site banking day for its employees during a retirement planningseminar.

The second configuration differs from the first configuration. Forexample, the first configuration in the example offered Store A-brandedproducts. The second configuration could offer enrollment in a 401K planof Company B. The first configuration and second configuration may beconsidered to differ if at least one financial product is different.Thus, even if the first configuration and the second configuration inthe example both provide ATM services, the second configuration differsfrom the first configuration because the second configuration offersenrollment in Company B's 401K plan and the first configuration doesnot.

At step 520, the method applies the second configuration to mobile kiosk40. As a result, mobile kiosk 40 is configured to offer the financialproducts of the second configuration, such as the Company B's 401K plandescribed in the previous step. In some embodiments, mobile kiosk 40 mayapply the second configuration in real-time upon receipt of the secondconfiguration information. Alternatively, mobile kiosk 40 may store thesecond configuration information in memory 18 and apply the secondconfiguration at a later time, such as when mobile kiosk 40 is at or enroute to Company B. Mobile kiosk 40 may detect that it is at or en routeto Company B based on administrator input or by using locationtechnology, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS). In response todetecting proximity to Company B, mobile kiosk 40 applies the secondconfiguration.

At step 524, the method provisions a second set of the financialproducts while mobile kiosk 40 is configured according to the secondconfiguration. For example, mobile kiosk 40 located at Company Bprovisions enrollment in Company B′s 401K plan while mobile kiosk 40 isconfigured according to the second configuration and located at CompanyB.

In some embodiments, provisioning financial products may further includedetermining an identity of a current user of mobile kiosk 40 andselecting certain financial products to offer the user based on thecustomer location and the identity of the current user. For example,mobile kiosk 40 located at Company B′s retirement planning seminar mayaccess a user profile for the current user. The user profile could belocated in memory 18 or received via network 22. Mobile kiosk 40 couldoffer certain investment options to younger users and could offerdifferent investment options for users that are nearing retirement age.

As described above, mobile kiosk 40 may be customized according to acustomer location. In the example, the first customer locationcorresponds to a first vendor (Store A) and the first configurationincludes financial products associated with the first vendor (StoreA-branded products). The second customer location does not correspond tothe first vendor (the second customer location corresponds to Company B,rather than Store A) and the second configuration does not include thefinancial products associated with the first vendor (the secondconfiguration includes enrollment in Company B's 401K plan rather thanStore-A branded products). The ability to customize the financialproducts offered by mobile kiosk 40 may help to build customerrelationships by offering financial products that have a relatively highlikelihood of being of interest to customers at a particular customerlocation. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may provide oneor more technical advantages. A technical advantage of one embodiment ofa multi-purpose/multi-tenant kiosk provides a one-stop shop forprovisioning financial products. A multi-purpose kiosk may offer avariety of financial products, such as a credit account, a debitaccount, a prepaid account, and/or an affinity account. The financialproducts can be offered in a variety of formats (e.g., magnetic stripe,radio frequency identifier, mobile token). A multi-tenant kiosk mayoffer financial products from a variety of vendors, such as multiplefinancial institutions and/or multiple retailers. An advantage of amulti-purpose/multi-tenant kiosk may be the creation of scale to managethe economics of deploying kiosks. For example, as the number ofpurposes and vendors increases, the volume of transactions that usersconduct via the kiosk may tend to increase thereby creating economies ofscale. In some embodiments, a technical advantage may provide customersa convenient means for replacing a lost or stolen card. For example,kiosks can be placed in locations where customers are likely to need toreplace lost or stolen cards, such as a banking center, a travel venue,a retail venue, or an entertainment venue. In some embodiments, thekiosk can be used by existing customers (e.g., to link to an existingbank account to print a replacement for a lost or stolen card) orprospective customers (e.g., to open a new account and print a card inreal time).

In some embodiments, kiosk 12 may allow for adding a gift card to a giftregistry. As an example, a couple could provision a gift card andregister the gift card in a wedding registry. Friends and relatives ofthe couple could then make gifts to the couple by adding funds to theregistered gift card, which may provide the convenience of allowingmultiple gift givers to consolidate their gifts on a single gift card.The gift card could be personalized with a poem, greeting, picture, orother customizations.

In some embodiments, kiosk 12 may have a primary vendor and secondaryvendors. The primary vendor may deploy kiosk 12 at the customerlocation. The secondary vendors may pay the primary vendor to offerfinancial products using kiosk 12. For example, a secondary vendor maypay the primary vendor a flat fee or a per transaction fee to offerfinancial products using kiosk 12. In some embodiments, the primaryvendor may configure the kiosk with a teller-assist feature, such as abutton that the user presses to contact a representative if the user ishaving difficulty operating kiosk 12. In some embodiments, therepresentative may be an employee of the primary vendor. In otherembodiments, the representative may be an employee of a particularsecondary vendor that provides the financial product that the userwishes to provision.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems andapparatuses disclosed herein without departing from the scope of theinvention. The components of the systems and apparatuses may beintegrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems andapparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components.Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performedusing any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or otherlogic.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may also be made to the methodsdisclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Themethods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps maybe performed in parallel or in any suitable order. Any suitablecomponent may perform one or more steps of the methods disclosed herein.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, a myriad of changes, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications may be suggested to one skilled inthe art, and it is intended that the present invention encompass suchchanges, variations, alterations, transformations, and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A kiosk, wherein the kiosk is deployed at a customer location and isoperable to: determine a subset of financial products to communicate toa user, the subset of financial products determined from a plurality offinancial products available for provisioning by the kiosk; communicatethe subset of financial products to the user; receive a first user inputindicating a selected financial product of the subset of financialproducts; determine a subset of vendors to communicate to the user, thesubset of vendors determined from a plurality of vendors that offer theplurality of financial products available for provisioning by the kiosk;communicate the subset of vendors to the user; receive a second userinput indicating a selected vendor of the subset of vendors; provisionthe selected financial product on behalf of the selected vendor based onthe first user input and the second user input; and in response to adetermination that the selected financial product is a gift card, allowthe gift card to be registered in a gift registry, wherein the giftregistry enables multiple gift givers to add funds to the gift card. 2.The kiosk of claim 1, the kiosk further operable to: communicate aplurality of format options for provisioning the selected financialproduct; receive a selected format option from the user; and provisionthe selected financial product according to the selected format option.3. The kiosk of claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of formatoptions is selected from the group consisting of a magnetic stripe card,a radio frequency identifier (RFID), or a token for a mobile device. 4.The kiosk of claim 1, wherein the subset of financial products includesat least one financial products selected from the group consisting of acredit account, a debit account, a prepaid account, and an affinityaccount.
 5. The kiosk of claim 1, wherein the subset of vendors includesa least one financial institution and at least one retail store.
 6. Thekiosk of claim 1, wherein the selected financial product corresponds toan existing account associated with the user and to provision theselected financial product, the kiosk prints a replacement card toreplace a lost, stolen, or expired card.
 7. The kiosk of claim 1,further operable to: receive funds from one of the gift givers via auser interface of the kiosk; and associate the funds with acorresponding gift card registered in the gift registry. 8.Non-transitory computer readable medium comprising logic, the logic,when executed by a processor, operable to: determine a subset offinancial products to communicate to a user, the subset of financialproducts determined from a plurality of financial products available forprovisioning by a kiosk; communicate the subset of financial products tothe user; receive a first user input indicating a selected financialproduct of the subset of financial products; determine a subset ofvendors to communicate to the user, the subset of vendors determinedfrom a plurality of vendors that offer the plurality of financialproducts available for provisioning by the kiosk; communicate the subsetof vendors to the user; receive a second user input indicating aselected vendor of the subset of vendors; provision the selectedfinancial product on behalf of the selected vendor based on the firstuser input and the second user input; and in response to a determinationthat the selected financial product is a gift card, allow the gift cardto be registered in a gift registry, wherein the gift registry enablesmultiple gift givers to add funds to the gift card.
 9. The medium ofclaim 8, the logic further operable to: communicate a plurality offormat options for provisioning the selected financial product; receivea selected format option from the user; and provision the selectedfinancial product according to the selected format option.
 10. Themedium of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of formatoptions is selected from the group consisting of a magnetic stripe card,a radio frequency identifier (RFID), or a token for a mobile device. 11.The medium of claim 8, wherein the subset of financial products includesat least one financial products selected from the group consisting of acredit account, a debit account, a prepaid account, and an affinityaccount.
 12. The medium of claim 8, wherein the subset of vendorsincludes a least one financial institution and at least one retailstore.
 13. The medium of claim 8, wherein the selected financial productcorresponds to an existing account associated with the user and toprovision the selected financial product, the kiosk prints a replacementcard to replace a lost, stolen, or expired card.
 14. The medium of claim8, wherein the customer location corresponds to a travel venue, a retailvenue, or an entertainment venue.
 15. A method in a kiosk deployed at acustomer location, the method comprising: determining, by one or moreprocessors, a subset of financial products to communicate to a user, thesubset of financial products determined from a plurality of financialproducts available for provisioning by the kiosk; communicating thesubset of financial products to the user via a user interface; receivinga first user input indicating a selected financial product of the subsetof financial products; determining, by the one or more processors, asubset of vendors to communicate to the user, the subset of vendorsdetermined from a plurality of vendors that offer the plurality offinancial products available for provisioning by the kiosk;communicating the subset of vendors to the user via the user interface;receiving a second user input indicating a selected vendor of the subsetof vendors; provisioning the selected financial product on behalf of theselected vendor based on the first user input and the second user input;and in response to a determination that the selected financial productis a gift card, allowing the gift card to be registered in a giftregistry, wherein the gift registry enables multiple gift givers to addfunds to the gift card.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:communicating a plurality of format options for provisioning theselected financial product; receiving a selected format option from theuser; and provisioning the selected financial product according to theselected format option.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least oneof the plurality of format options is selected from the group consistingof a magnetic stripe card, a radio frequency identifier (RFID), or atoken for a mobile device.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein thesubset of financial products includes at least one financial productsselected from the group consisting of a credit account, a debit account,a prepaid account, and an affinity account.
 19. The method of claim 15,wherein the subset of vendors includes a least one financial institutionand at least one retail store.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein theselected financial product corresponds to an existing account associatedwith the user and to provision the selected financial product, the kioskprints a replacement card to replace a lost, stolen, or expired card.